Town News Briefing

The House Democratic majority plans to restore $105,720 to Rocky Hill, which was lost to the town when the governor decided to shift Pequot funds away from municipalities.

In a letter to Town Manager Nicholas LaRosa, state Rep. Antonio Guerrera said, ``I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that the Democratic majority in the General Assembly is committed to rectifying this problem. We have made this a priority, a priority you can count on.''

The original intent of the Pequot fund was to provide financial help to urban areas.

``Reinstating the Pequot funds to make them available to your municipality is a main course of the leaders of the Democratic Party,'' said Guerrera, whose district covers Rocky Hill. ``This allegiance will once again allow Rocky Hill to rely on the receipt of $105,720 as it has in the past.''

HARTFORD

Speeder Arrested

On Drug Charges

Officer William Rivera went to the Bellevue Street area early Thursday morning after residents reported early morning gunfire. He found a speeding motorist and a suspected drug dealer carrying crack and marijuana, police said.

Rivera entered the street about 3:20 a.m. Thursday and caught up with the speeding vehicle at Main and Nelson streets in Hartford's North End, police said.

Ronald Green, 31, of Garden Street in Hartford, was immediately placed under arrest after police found 67 small packages of crack, four large packages of crack, 51 plastic bags of marijuana and $99 in the vehicle, police said.

Green was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession with the intent to sell, possession of narcotics with the intent to sell, interfering with police, possession within 1,500 of a school and running a stop sign, police said.

HARTFORD

Family Fishing

Event Saturday

Riverfront Recapture will host the Connecticut River Tournament of Champions Saturday at Riverside Park. Registration for the free tournament, which will be geared to family fishing, will begin at 5 a.m.

The tournament will feature celebrity participants, adult teams and youth fishing clinics. Prizes will be awarded in various categories for bass, catfish and striped bass. All fish will be weighed between 2 and 3 p.m.

Reservations for clinics, which begin at 9 and 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and more information are available by calling 860-713-3131.

HARTFORD

Fire Department

Promotes Nolan

Capt. Daniel Nolan of the Hartford Fire Department has been promoted to deputy chief of training. A firefighter since 1983, Nolan had been serving as acting chief of training for about a year.

AREAWIDE

Inmate Tried

To Kill Self

The brother of a man found hanged inside a Virginia prison last year attempted to kill himself this week in the maximum-security Garner Correctional Institution in Newtown, state prison officials said.

Joseph Tracy, 30, was saved by three correction officers who cut away the jumpsuit he was using to try and hang himself, prison officials said.

``He was treated by medical staff and did not require outside medical services,'' said Heather Ziemba, a spokeswoman for the Department of Correction.

Tracy is serving a 25-year sentence on criminal attempt charges, prison officials said. No further details were available Wednesday.

In April of last year, his brother, 20-year-old David Tracy, hanged himself at the super-maximum Wallens Ridge State Prison in Big Stone Gap, Va.

David Tracy was one of about 500 Connecticut inmates sent to Virginia in 1999 to ease crowding.

His family has sued the state Department of Correction, Commissioner John Armstrong and employees of the University of Connecticut Medical Center, which conducted a psychological evaluation of Tracy.

The family says the state showed ``deliberate indifference'' by ignoring warning signs that Tracy was a danger to himself, and violated the agreement prohibiting the transfer of mentally ill inmates to Wallens Ridge.

HARTFORD

State Suspends

Liquor Permits

The state Liquor Control Commission has suspended the liquor permits of Brothers Grocery, 180 Ashley St., and Vera's Market, 122 Franklin Ave., in Hartford for sale of liquor to a minor.

The suspensions, which include $750 fines that have been paid, will be in effect Monday through Wednesday.

CROMWELL

Festivities Put Off,

But Park Open

CROMWELL -- Most of the festivities planned for Saturday's opening of River Highlands State Park have been postponed, but hikers can still get a guided tour of the park's trail.

Since many of the officials invited to the opening of the new 172-acre state park are unable to attend Saturday, the festivities have been postponed until sometime later this summer, said Pamela Adams, director of state parks for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Officials from the Connecticut Forests and Parks Association, however, will be there for the ninth annual Connecticut Trails Day. They'll cut the ribbon on the park's 1.5-mile trail at 10 a.m. and lead hikers through it.